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National Síolta Aistear Initiative

The National Síolta Aistear Initiative (NSAI) was established in 2016 to support the coordinated rollout of Síolta, The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education (Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education [CECDE], 2006) and Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment [NCCA], 2009). It is funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) and is being developed in collaboration with the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). The National Síolta Aistear Initiative is overseen by a steering committee, chaired by DES, with members from DCYA, DES and the NCCA. There are two national coordinators in place to manage the work of the initiative - a Síolta Coordinator based in the Early Years Education Policy Unit and an Aistear Coordinator based in NCCA. There is a strong emphasis on the integration of both strands of the initiative.

A number of Síolta Aistear Mentors provide a range of training and mentoring supports to Early Years Settings which support them in implementing Síolta and Aistear in their settings.

In the initial phase of implementation of the national initiative a number of newsletters were published and disseminated to the Early Years sector to increase understanding of Síolta and Aistear and to provide information to the sector on the NSAI.